Williams Twp. unveils public works building

Storage, work bays at the new $3.2 million facility help to protect equipment and improve efficiency.

June 04, 2009|By Christopher Baxter OF THE MORNING CALL

Sparks flew from a welder inside Williams Township's new public works building Wednesday, and the bay doors lifted to welcome home the fleet of red trucks returning from the day's rounds. Workers mingled in the maintenance garage, sweeping the floor and hosing down the equipment, before punching out.

By most measures, the 25,000-square-foot facility, completed in April, looks like any other modern public works building. But for this small, rural township, which for decades used a one-room schoolhouse and a one-bay garage to store its equipment, the upgrade is immense.

6/5/2009 FOR THE RECORD (Published Friday, June 5, 2009) A story in Wednesday's (sic) paper incorrectly identified the architect for Williams Township's new public works building as The Martinson Group. The architect of record is R.T. Consulting & Engineering of Bethlehem, which is owned by a former principal of Martinson.

"It's a whole new world here," said Will Hughes, acting director of public works, standing in the maintenance garage. "The guys are doing more work, they're more efficient and they're safer. It's a great place."

The $3.2 million facility, built on 11 acres near the township fire station, stands about a half mile from the former building at Morgan Hill and Diehl roads. Built in 1888, the brick schoolhouse and small garage could accommodate little more than one of the township's many trucks, a few tables, a restroom and a microwave.

The L-shaped new building features offices, a lunchroom and spacious men's and women's restrooms with showers. Equipment once kept outside and exposed to the elements now sits protected in the building's storage bays, and crews can wash their trucks or quickly prepare them for a snowstorm in the maintenance and wash bays.

"Take snowstorms for example," said Township Manager Deborah Patterson. "We can fill and deploy a fleet to the roads in a matter of minutes, cutting response time way down."

The township issued a $3.5 million bond to pay for the building in 2006 and had hoped it would be completed by the end of 2007. But delays in planning and approvals set groundbreaking back until January 2008, Patterson said. Although some expenses are still outstanding, she expects the building to come in right on budget.

Though most of the 62 change orders on the project were for small items, some -- like moving a flag pole planned too close to the building, making manual flush toilets automatic and fireproofing walls -- caught the attention of residents in April who wanted the township to get their money back from the architect.

Plans for the building were drawn up by The Martinson Group of Easton and were reviewed for code compliance by Base Engineering of Allentown. Jeff Martinson, who owns the architectural firm, lives in Williams.

Supervisor Sally Hixson said at a Board of Supervisors meeting in April that there had been too many problems and that the township would review the charges to see if there was any recourse. Patterson said Wednesday that the review would take place in the next few months.